Grain door installation for railway freight cars and nail shim therefor



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4 Claims. (Cl. 160-368) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE vA grain doorinstallation embodying a nail shim which compensates for the widening ofa door post slot under repeated use of the slot for nail-receivingpurposes. The shim isof folded sheet metal construction and presents afold which is tucked into the door post slot so as to decrease theeffective width of the slot.

The present invention relates to temporary closure panel installations'for the door openings of railway freight cars, specifically freight carshaving metal door posts at the sides of such openings.

It has long been the practice in connection with the side door openingof a railway freight car to seal the opening against the escape ofgranular materials such as salt, silica sand, lfertilizers and the likeby nailing a flexible anddisposable closure panel to the door posts atthe sides of the opening so that the panel extends across the opening onthe inner side thereof and, in addition to its sealing function,prevents the contents of the freight car from hindering the normaloperation of the regular outside sliding door of the car. Such flexibleclosure panels are ordinarily referred to as grain doors, and they willthus be referred to both in this specification and in the appendedclaims. Such grain doors are comprised of a sheet or panel which isformed of heavy kraft or corrugated paper, to one side of which there isaffixed a plurality of steel straps having longitudinally spaced holestherein. These holes are adapted for selective reception of nails bymeans of which the panel may be nailed to the door posts. The strapsthus reinforce and prevent tearing of the paper in the vicinity of nailsand they also reinforce the panel as a whole against undue outwardbulging thereof when the freight car is fully loaded and in transit.

Where the freight car is equipped with wooden door r posts, the nailsare conveniently driven through the straps and directly into the posts.However, with modern allsteel freight cars where imperforate steel doorposts are employed it has been the practice to drive the nails into thevertical crevice which exists alongside the door post between the latterand the adjacent portion of the freight car side panel. This practicehas not proven altogether satisfactory due to the fact that repeatedapplication of nails to and removal of the nails from the crevice duringsuccessive car loading and unloading operations causes the door posts tobecome sprung and the crevices to widen so that they no longer have theability to securely retain nails which are driven thereinto.

The present invention is designed, to overcome the above-notedlimitation that is attendant upon the application of grain doors tosteel door posts and, toward this end, the invention contemplates .theprovision of a grain door installation embodying a novel nail shimhaving a portion which is designed for insertion into the vertical voidor crevice which exists between a door post and the adjacent portion ofa railway boxcar side panel, the shim preferably extending substantiallythe full Ice height of the crevice or, at least, to an extent necessaryto encompass all contemplated nail-insertions.

In the preferred form of the invention, the shim is in the form of asheet metal stamping having a reentrant bend or fold therein and twolaterally projecting wings which are coplanar and extend in oppositedirections from the adjacent outer or distal edges of the fold, thusproviding an elongated sheet metal structure which is generally T-shapein transverse cross section. The dual thickness T-leg is adapted to beinserted into the nailing crevice so as to be completely encompassedthereby with one lateral wing lying ush against the door post and theother wing lying flush against the boxcar side panel. When thuspositioned at the side of the door opening, the shim is held in place byfriction and the crevice which the shim itself establishes between thesides of the fold is then available for nail reception.

As previously set forth, the shim is intended for use in connection witha steel door post which, after repeated nailings, has become sprung andthe crevice thus widened to such an extent that it will not tightlyreceive grain door attachment nails. Because the sheet metal shim isformed of a relatively soft metal, its presence in the crevice will notappreciably further widen the nail-receiving crevice when nails aredriven into the latter. Initial widening of the crevice is predicatedupon the wedging action incident to the driving of the relativelyincompressible steel nail Shanks into direct contact with the sideflanges of the crevice. Where a shim is in place within the crevice andthe nail shanks are driven between the folds of the shim, these nailShanks are self-reaming and `the side flanges of the fold yield toreceive them so that no further and undue wedging action is exerted uponthe door post tending to further spring the same and thus further widenthe crevice. Thus, a new freight boxcar may be receptive to successfulgrain door nailing operations over a given period of time, after whichsuccessful nailings can be made only with the aid of shims of thepresent invention. However, once the use of shims has been resorted to,no further widening of the crevice will take place under ordinarycircumstances for reasons outlined above and a single shim, if left inplace, will serve its function successfully for many repeated nailings.Then, if after a period of time, the shim becomes worn or otherwiseloses its effectiveness, it may readily be removed and replaced by asingle fresh shim which will accommodate a similar number of repeatednailings.

A further advantageous feature of the present invention resides in thesealing function which is offered when the shim is inserted into thevertical crevice existing between the door post and the adjacentpanelling. Heretofore objectionable infestation of material in and aboutthe door posts of boxcars has presented a serious problem, thisinfestation arising by reason of infiltration of granular vegetable orother material which is subject to spoilage. Frequent cleaning of thevertical door post crevice is a troublesome matter even though specialcleaning tools for this purpose have been developed. The presence of anail shim within the crevice eliminates the possibility of grain orother infiltration directly into the crevice and any inltrated matterwhich may enter the auxiliary nail slot afforded by the shim may readilybe removed by the simple expedient of withdrawing the shim manually,shaking out the excess or residual material, and .thereafter replacingthe shim within the crevice.

The provision of a nail shim for grain door installations such as hasbriefly been outlined above and possessing the stated advantagesconstitutes the principal object of the present invention. Other objectsand advantages, not at this time enumerated, will readily suggestthemselves as the following description ensues.

isf-agarral l i a part of this specification, one illustrativeembodiment of the invention has been shown.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective inside view of a grain doorinstallation embodying two of the nail shims of the present invention;

FIG. 2. is an enlarged sectional view taken on the vertical planeindicated by the line 2 2 of FIG. 1 and in the direction of the arrows;and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view illustratingschematically the manner of installation of the present nail shim in agrain door assembly; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and in particular to FIG. 1, aconventional grain door installation has been designated in its entiretyat and is associated with an all-steel railway boxcar, a portion ofwhich has been shown at 12. The boxcar 12 is provided with the usualfloor or deck 14 and side panelling 16, the panelling on only one sideof the boxcar being illustrated. A rectangular door frame includingvertical door posts 18, a lower sill 20, and an upper sill (not shown)establishes a door Opening 22 which is adapted to be closed by the usualoutside sliding door (likewise not shown). Each door post 18 isintegrally formed with an adjacent side panel 16 as clearly shown inFIG. 2 although in certain door assemblies the door posts may beseparately formed from the side panels. In either event, a narrowvertical crevice or slot 23 is invariably established in the region ofjuncture between the door post and its adjacent side panel 16 and thisslot is ordinarily employed for direct reception of dual-headed nails 24by means of which a conventional grain door assembly which has beendesignated in its entirety at 25 may be nailed across the door opening22. As will be described in greater detail presently, repeatedapplication of nails to the crevices or slots 23 tends to spring thedoor posts 18 and thus widen the crevices 23 so that the same no longerhave the ability to seize the nail Shanks with sufficient gripping forceto hold them in place so that they may withstand the pulling force ofthe grain door under the influence of the load. It is this fact whichhas given rise to the present invention which consists in the provisionof a novel and efficient nail shim by means of which the nail-holdingability of the crevices or slots 23 is restored indefinitely. Such anail shim has been designated in its entirety at 26 and the detailsthereof will be made clear presently.

It should be distinctly understood that the door post and side panellinginstallation shown herein is merely illustrative of a typicalinstallation requiring the use of the present nail shim. The door postand panelling installations associated with the boxcars of differentmanufacturers may vary widely .in their details of construction andassembly. In some installations the door posts and panelling may beseparately formed and joined together by welding, riveting or the like.Regardless of the particular installation involved, the onlyprerequisite to application of the present door shim in the installatinresides in the provision somewhere in the vicinity of the door post of avertical crevice or slot such as the slot 22 Within which the shim maybe installed. Specifically, in the illustrated form of door post 18, theslot 23 is defined between a flange 27 on the door post and an opposingadjacent flange 28 which extends laterally from the adjacent side panel16. The two flanges 27 and 28 are joined by a reentrant fold or bend 29which constitutes the bottom edge of the slot 23.

The grain door 25 may be of any conventional type but for illustrativepurposes it is shown as consisting of a heavy kraft paper sheet or panel32, to one side of which there are aflixed a plurality of steel straps34 having longitudinally spaced holes 36 formed in the end regionsthereof (see also FIG. 3). These holes 36 are provided for the purposeof receiving the door-fastening nails 24, plural holes being providedto' accommodate door openings of varying width. The straps are affixedto the outer side of the sheet -32 so that they prevent the paper frombowing outwardly under the outward thrust of the granular or other loadundergoing shipment. The straps also reinforce the paper material in theimmediate vicinity of the nails 24 and prevent tearing or ripping of thepaper sheet when tension is applied thereto under the influence of theload. The upper and lower edge portions of the papersheet may bereinforced with wooden backing strips 38L and 40 respectively, thesestrips being nailed in position across the opening 22 in a mannersimilar to the nailing of the grain door proper. The upper strip 38preferably is disposed on the inner side of the grain door while thelower strip 40 is disposed on the outside of the door. A narrow bottomflap 41 projects laterally and inwardly from the main body portion ofthe sheet and closely overlies the adjacent portion of the deck 14. Thisflap 41 may be nailed to the deck 14 by driving nails 24 through theflap and into the narrow crevices or slots 42 existing between adjacentdeck panels 43.

The nail shim 26 is comprised of an elongated strip of sheet metal stockbent to generally T-shape configuration in transverse cross-section soas to provide a dual-thickness leg consisting of side flanges 44 Whichoppose each other in substantial face-to-face contiguity, and side wings46 which extend laterally in opposite directions from the distal edgesof the side flanges 44. The two side flanges 44 establish therebetweenan auxiliary nail receiving slot 48 and the bottom of this slot isdefined by the reentrant bend or fold 49 by means of which the sideflanges 44 are joined together. Preferably the juncture regions betweenthe side flanges 44 and their respective side wings 46 are rounded as at50 in order to guide the pointed ends 52 of the shank portions of thenails 24 into the slot 48 during installation thereof and thus avoidpossible puncturing and misdirection of the nails when they are struckby the driving impact tool.

The length of each shim, i.e., its vertical height in the doorinstallation, is preferably at least as great as the vertical height ofthe grain door 30 so that only a single shim 26 is required inassociation with each door post 18.

The shims 26 are installed in the slots 23 at the opposite sides of thedoor opening 22 by the simple expedient of forcing the dual-thicknesslegs 44 forwardly into these slots so that the side flanges form, ineffect, inner linings for the side walls 27 and 28. This may beaccomplished manually if the slots 23 have become .sufficiently wide asto accommodate such manual application. If appreciable resistance toentry of a shim into the slot is encountered, a series of light blows ortaps by an impact tool such as a hammer appropriately directed againstthe side wings 46 will serve to force the shim into the slot 23 to itscompletely installed position wherein the two side Wings 46 lie flushagainst the inside faces of the door post 18 and panelling 16respectively.

The sheet metal from which each shim 26 is formed is preferablyrelatively soft, ordinary commercial galvanized iron sheet metal beingsuitable for the purposes. Because of the relative softness of themetal, after a given installation of a shim has been effected, the nailShanks which are driven int-o the slot 48 will rea'm their way, so tospeak, lbetween the two side flanges 44 of the shim and thus displaceadjacent metal portions las shown Iat 54 in FIG. 4 so that there will beno further springing of the door post and consequent widening of theslot 22 existing between the door post 18 and panelling 16. Whereas aninitial grain door installation, in the absence of a shim within theslot 23, may have a widening effect on the slot because of the spreadingor wedging action of the steel nail Shanks against the steel sides ofthe slot, such is not the case when a shim has been installed in theslot due to yielding of the soft metal of the shim as previously setforth.

It will be understood, of course, that application of a shim 26 toeither or both of the slot-s 23 on opposite sides of the door opening 22will not basically alter the mode of application of the grain door 25 tothe opening. In either instance, the nail shanks will be directedthrough appropriately selected nail holes 36 in the steel straps 34associated with the grain door 30, and thereafter these holes and nailsshanks will be aligned with the adjacent vertical crevices or slots 23and the nails -driven into position directly into the slot 23 in theabsence of a shim, or into the auxiliary slot 48 which is establishedwhen a shim is `present in the slot 23.

It is contemplated that a single shim 26 will suffice for a large numberof repetitive grain door install-ations inasmuch as there is no furtherwidening of the slot 23 incident to such in-stallations. However, undercertain circumstances the repeated application of nails to a given shimmay dictate that the shim be replaced with Ia fresh one and, in such aninstance, it ils a comparatively easy matter to remove the old shim,utilizing a pulling tool such as pliers or the like whi-ch may beapplied to either or both :side wings 46 for pulling purposes.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of partsshown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification asvarious changes in the details of construction may be resorted towithout departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, onlyinsofar as the invention has particularly been pointed out in theaccompanying claims is the same to be limited.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim a-nd desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. In a grain door install-ation, the combination with a freight vehicleof the all-steel type and having a side wall including a pair of spacedapart vertical steel door posts defining therebetween a door opening,coplanar steel side wall panel sections coextensive in vertical heightwith :said door posts and extending forwardly and rearwalrdly therefromlongitudinally of the vehicle, each door post and its adjacent panelsection defining therebetween a narrow nail-receiving slot havingopposed side walls between which nail shanks are adapted to be driven inwedging relationship, a flexible grain door closure extend- 'ing acrosssaid door opening in overlapping relation-ship with respect to said doorposts and including spaced apart horizontal reinforcing straps havingnail openings in the opposite end regions thereof, nails projectingthrough said nail hole's and having the-ir shank portions projectinginto said nail-receiving slots, and a nail shim for each slot, common tothe nail shanks therein, said nail shim being in the form of avertically elongated flat strip of sheet material folded upon itselflongitudinally to provide a pair of contiguous side flanges whichestablish therebetween an auxiliary nail-receiving slot, said shimprojecting into the slot so that the side flanges thereof lie flushagainst lthe respective side walls of said slot, said shank portions ofthe nails projecting Ibetween said side flanges in wedging relationshipwith respect thereto and serving to spread the side flanges outwardlyagainst said side walls.

2. In a grain door "installation, the combination set forth in claim 1,wherein eachy shim is formed of sheet material which is of less hardnessthan that of the nail Shanks, and wherein the side flanges of the shimin the immediate vicinity of the nail sh'anks are deformed under theinfluence of outward pressure exerted by the nail shanks.

3. Ina grain door installation, the combination set forth in claim 1,wherein the distal edges of each shim are provided with laterally turnedside wings which are coplanar and which are interposed between the graindoor closure and the adjacent faces of the door post and side wall panelrespectively.

4. Ina grain door installation, the combination set forth in clai-m 3,wherein the juncture regions between the si-de wings and their adjacentside flanges are rounded to facilitate dmiving of said nail ShanksIbetween the side flanges during installation of the grain door acrosssaid opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,804,452 5/ 1931 Barton 52-3772,457,250 12/ 1948 Macomber 52-364 X 3,052,292 9/1962 Bruning 160-3683,068,967 12/1962 Oakley 52-377 3,200,550 8/1965 Doughty 52-3773,218,766 11/1965 Bruning 160-368 3,335,522 8/1967 Bruning 160-368 XDAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

PHILIP C. KANNAN, Assistant Examiner.

